Decorative article



Feb. 9, 1954 J. PETTOROSSI 2,668,385 DECORATIVE ARTICLE Filed Nov. 1, 1951 I INVENTOR. Joseph Pehorossi ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 9, 1954 DECORATIVE ARTICLE Joseph Pettorossi, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Paper Novelty Manufacturing Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 1, 1951, Serial No. 254,353

1 Claim.

This invention relates to decorative articles, such as Christmas tree ornaments and" the like, and, in particular, to decorative articles of the well known sandwich construction comprising a number of paper or other laminae joined together by a plurality of adhesive strips, whereby the article may be collapsed into a flat pile for storage and shipping, and expanded, for use as an ornament, into a honeycomb structure.

The general object of the invention is to provide a novel decorative article of this type. A particular object is to provide a collapsible decorative article of sandwich construction, as described above, which, when expanded for use as an ornament, is a honeycomb simulation of a pair of bells or a pair of other articles any section of which normal to the axis is substantially a circle.

A further object is to provide a decorative article of the class described which, when collapsed for storage or shipping, comprises a flat pile of laminae the length and breadth of which is substantially half the same dimensions of the article when expanded for ornamental use.

Another object is to provide such an article having a relatively rigid base member which serves both to reinforce and to tie together the pair of honeycomb replicas of symbolic articles, such as bells, and which may also be utilized as a hanger whereby the decorative article, as a unit, may be suspended, as from a Christmas tree.

The invention particularly contemplates a decorative article, built as a unit, and collapsible to form a flat pile of laminae of relatively small compass, which provides, when expanded for use as an ornament, a linked pair of honeycomb replicas of any symbolic articles the shape of which may be simulated by expanding a sandwich structure angularly through 360.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description and from the drawing, in which one form of the invention is illustrated, this form being a decorative article comprising, when properly expanded, a rigidly linked pair of Christmas bells of honeycomb construction.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the base of the article. The base is preferably a die-cut sheet, and is shown in the form in which it is produced;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the complete decorative article, collapsed. The base, here, has been folded on median line A-A of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the complete decorative article, collapsed;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the article, the

honeycomb replica of one bell, being that to the left in the figure, appearing in full, and the companion replica being indicated only in outline, so that the relationship of part of the base and one of the replicas may be clearly understood. The appearance of the complete decorative article properly expanded, and seen from the angle of Fig. 4, comprises, on each side of the median line BB (of Figs. 1 and 2), a bell such as shown to the left in Fig. 4.

The base I0 is preferably a sheet of cardboard, diecut in shape shown in Fig. l. The latitudinal medianline is designated A-A; the longitudinal median line, B-B. The base is seen to be a symmetrical figure. A row of perforations I I extends across the middle of the base on median line AA. If the base is folded on the median line A-A, the two halves are congruent, and the base appears as seen in Figs. 2 and 4 (cf. Fig. 3).

The base, as produced in a diecutting press, comprises two like halves I 2 and I 3 on either side of median line A-A. Each half of the base is provided with opposite straight edges I 4 and I5 which diverge as distance from the median line AA increases. Each half is provided with a fenestration I 6, the fenestration being of symmetrical configuration. On either side of median line B-'-B the edges of thefenestration I6 are opposite hand to each other. Above the median line B-B in Fig. 1 the edges of fenestrations I6 of both halves I2 and I3, from points Ila to point l8, conform to part of the outer surface of one of the bell replicas. Beneath the median line 3-3 in Fig. 1 the opposite edges of fenestrations I6 of both halves I2 and I3, from points [1b to point I 8, conform to part of the outer surface of the bell replicas. The outer edges I9, I9 on either side of median line 3-3 of both halves I2 and I3 conform to the lower surfaces of the two bell replicas. Each half I2 and I3 is provided with a perforation 20. When the base In is folded on median line A-A the perforations 20 are in register, and a string or the like may be drawn through the perforations for the purpose of suspending the article from a Christmas tree (see Figs. 1, 2, and 4).

The portion 2| of the base Ill between the fenestrations I6 of the halves I2 and I3 serves as a yoke joining the upper portions of the bell replicas, as shown in Fig. 4.

Each bell replica is formed in a common manner, and comprises, initially, a flat pile of thin sheets of paper, adjacent sheets adhering to each other along parallel strips. The adhesive strips on one side of any single sheet are parallel to, but

staggered with relationship to, the strips on the other side. This structure is well known in the art, and, of course, may be expanded to form an object like a honeycomb having diamond shaped cells. See Fig. 4. The flat pile of adhering sheets is preferably diecut, and the resulting product, in plan, has the appearance of a radial plane taken anywhere around'the axis of a bell. The edge 15 of base Hi and the dotted line 22 of Fig. 4, together form an outline similar to that of the diecut pile of adhering sheets, which form the bell replica. There are two such piles present in the.

decorative article so that two bell replicas may be provided. One pile 23 is shown edgewlse and'collapsed in Fig. 3. Pile 23, when expanded, occupies the position indicated in outline in Fig.4. The other pile is designated 2d and is shownexpanded in Fig. 4. The extreme upper portions of both piles appear in Fig. 2.

The decorative article'is assembled in the following manner: The base It being in the condition shown in Fig. 1, piles 23 and. 24 are secured to one of the halves l2 and i3 of the base preferably by pasting, the bottommost sheets of the piles to the selected half of the base, one pile being secured to the selected half on either side of median line 13-13. The piles are, of course,

disposed otherhand to each other, and are positioned in register with the particular part of the base to which it relates, as indicated in Fig. 4.

After the two piles have been secured to one half of the base, the base is then folded along the row of perforations I l on median line A-A, and the unloaded half of the base is pasted or otherwise secured to the topmost sheets of both piles to form a fiat sandwich structure, as shown, edgewise, in Fig. 3. The decorative article is now a complete product, but in a collapsed state. See, also, Fig. 2.

With reference, now, to Fig. 3, if the outer edges or the halves l2 and 13 of the base M) are moved away from each other, i. e., rotated oppositely on median lines A-A as an axis, the piles are expanded angularly on the same axis. If the rotation of the halves is continued until the halves lie in a common plane-as when the base is unfolded-the piles 23 and 25 form semicircular honeycomb structures. If the rotation of the halves is continued until the halves meet flatwise, i. e., until 360 of aggregate rotation has been accomplished, the piles 23 and 24 form circular honeycomb structures, here similar to Christmas bells. The portions 25, 25 of the two halves may be secured together in any suitable manner to lock the article in expanded state.

The article then provides two'honeycomb bell replicas, as indicated in Fig. 4, the replicas being close together side by side, with the axes of the Y two replicas diverging at the lower parts thereof.

The two replicas are reinforced and rigidly held together by the two superposed halves of the base. The article, as a unit, is thereby provided with-a relativelystrong yoke, comprising once folded portion 210i the base, through the registerecl perforations 23 of which a string. hook or other means of suspension may be passed for suitably mounting the article on a Christmas tree or elsewhere.

I claim:

A decorative article of the class described, comprising a reinforcing base of sheet material having opposite hand symmetrical halves joined together at a transverse fold at the vertical median line of said base, whereby said halves may be oppositely rotated on said fold as an axis, each of said halves providing a portion shaped like half or" the axial section of an object to one side of the axis thereof and normal to the vertical median line, and two piles of honeycombed sheets identically shaped and attached to said portion, whereby when said base is folded upon said sheets flat sandwich results and when said base is folded upon its transverse fold, the sheets are expanded into two substantially identical honeycomb structures, simulating objects held together by said base.

JOSEPH PEITO-RO SSI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 753,781 Wundsch Mar. 1, 1904 1,414,006 Beistle Apr. 25, 1922 1,593,646 Beistle July 2'7, 1926 2,344,723 Pettorossi Mar. 21, 1944 

